Ronald M Rapee, Rebecca Kuhnert, Susan H Spence, Ian Bowsher, John Burns, Jennifer Coen, Julie Dixon, Pauline Kotselas, Catherine Lourey, Lauren F McLellan, Cathrine Mihalopoulos, Lorna Peters, Traci Prendergast, Tiffany Roos, Danielle Thomas, Viviana Wuthrich
This paper describes the development and psychometric evaluation of a brief self-report measure (BEACON) to inform universal mental health screening in schools. Items assess symptoms and impairment associated with anxiety and attention/hyperactivity problems (grades 4-11) as well as depression and eating difficulties (grades 6-11), with optional items for suicidality and self-harm (grades 7-11). Initial item examination based on Item Response Theory (IRT) and classical test theory involved 3844 students in grades 4 through 11 (Study 1) and identified 18 items for grades 4-5 and 31 items for grades 6-11 that fulfilled pre-set criteria...
February 29, 2024: Journal of Clinical Psychology